UNG Newsroom

UNG announces spring commencement speakers

Spring 2015 commencement ceremonies at UNG will be held May 1-3, and will feature regional and international leaders speaking at each event.

The University of North Georgia (UNG) will hold six spring commencement ceremonies May 1-3 at the university's Dahlonega and Gainesville campuses. Guest speakers for the events include Sandy Eskew Capps, Rep. David Ralston, Dr. Satu Limaye, Sonny Roshan, Kim Waters and Abit Massey.

Due to anticipated attendance, tickets are required for each ceremony. Students who have applied for spring graduation can pick up graduation packets, which include their designated number of tickets, beginning the week of finals, April 27, at the bookstore on their home campus.

Four ceremonies will be held on the Dahlonega Campus on May 1-2 for graduates whose home campus is Dahlonega or Cumming. Two ceremonies will be held on the Gainesville Campus on May 3 for graduates whose home campus is Gainesville or Oconee; those without tickets may view a live stream of the Gainesville ceremonies from the Cleveland Ballroom of the Martha T. Nesbitt Building.

The first ceremony will begin at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 1 at UNG's Dahlonega Campus to honor graduates from the College of Health Sciences & Professions. Capps, an active member of the Physical Therapy Association of Georgia and of the Georgia State Board of Physical Therapy Licensure, will speak.

Three graduation ceremonies will be held on Saturday, May 2 at UNG's Dahlonega Campus.

At 10 a.m., UNG will honor graduates from the College of Education. Ralston, Georgia's 73rd speaker of the House, will give the commencement address. Ralston, a UNG alumnus, is a member of the executive committee of the National Speakers Conference and was named Georgian of the Year in 2010 by Georgia Trend Magazine.

The 2 p.m. ceremony will honor graduates of the College of Arts & Letters and University College. Limaye, director of the East West Center in Washington, D.C., will speak. He also is the creator and director of the Asia Matters for America initiative, a resource for non-partisan information and analysis on U.S.-Asia Pacific relations.

The 6 p.m. ceremony will honor graduates of the Mike Cottrell College of Business and the College of Science & Mathematics. Roshan, co-founder and CEO of Aeon Clinical Laboratories in Gainesville, will speak.

Two ceremonies will be held on Sunday, May 3 at UNG's Gainesville Campus at the Hugh Mills Physical Education Complex.

The 2 p.m. ceremony will honor graduates of the College of Arts & Letters, the College of Science & Mathematics, University College and the Lewis F. Rogers Institute for Environmental and Spatial Analysis. Waters, an associate broker and partner at The Norton Agency in Gainesville, will speak. The Hall County Board of Realtors recently honored Waters with the Silver Phoenix Award for 20 consecutive years of Circle of Excellence production.

The 5 p.m. ceremony will honor graduates from the Mike Cottrell College of Business, the College of Education and the College of Health Sciences & Professions. Massey, president emeritus of the Georgia Poultry Federation 2009, will speak. Massey is also former chairman of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Association Executives.

Graduates are instructed to read through all information and instructions given in the graduation packets, and should arrive 45 minutes before the ceremony to prepare for the ceremony. Graduates and guests should also allow extra time for traffic and parking when arriving for the ceremonies.

For more information about spring commencement, including information and instructions for graduates, visit UNG's commencement website at www.ung.edu/commencement/index.php.